Hypertension Diagnosis and Management in Children and Adolescents: Important Updates

Purpose of Review: This review aims to examine new literature and clinical practice guidelines on the diagnosis and management of hypertension in children along with the potential impact on clinical practice of the new recommendations. Recent Findings: Hypertension is underrecognized and underdiagnosed in clinical practice. Tools for improving diagnosis may include prompts in electronic medical records, use of a blood pressure screening table, and standardized blood pressure thresholds for adolescents. The recent AAP clinical practice guideline on the management of hypertension in children developed new blood pressure tables with lower norms that may increase the percentage of children diagnosed with elevated blood pressure and hypertension. In this high cardiovascular-risk population, therapeutic lifestyle modifications remain a fundamental management strategy. Summary: There is more evidence demonstrating the importance of identification and management of elevated blood pressure in childhood. New tools and strategies may improve recognition and treatment of hypertension as the number of children at risk increases. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.